Syracuse racks up huge win over G'town

Syracuse may be down. Don't count the Orange out just yet, though.

Paul Harris scored 22 points and freshman Donte Greene added 18 to lead Syracuse to a 77-70 victory over No. 8 Georgetown on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y., a huge win in terms of keeping the Orange's postseason hopes alive with only five games remaining in the regular season.

Syracuse (17-9, 7-6 Big East), coming off a surprising loss at South Florida, built a 21-point lead in the first half and withstood two late rallies by the Hoyas (20-4, 10-3), who had only allowed one other team -- top-ranked Memphis -- to score more than 70.

It was the Orange's first victory over a ranked team since they beat Georgetown in the regular-season home finale last March. It also served as a measure of revenge for Syracuse, which blew a 7-point lead in the final five minutes of regulation and lost by 2 points in overtime at Georgetown last month.

"This is definitely a quality, key win," said Harris, who scored half his points from the free throw line. "But at the same time we have to keep believing in ourselves."

Last season, desperate for a quality win, Syracuse dealt Georgetown its worst loss of 2006-07, beating the ninth-ranked Hoyas 72-58. Despite going 21-9 in the regular season and 10-6 in the Big East, Syracuse did not make the NCAA Tournament field.

After losing Wednesday night on the road, the Orange again were in dire need of a quality win as this season winds down, and again Georgetown obliged.

Freshman Jonny Flynn had 17 points and 9 assists for the Orange, while Arinze Onuaku added 13 points and a strong inside presence against 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert.

The Hoyas let the game slip away from them quickly, committing 12 turnovers that led to 18 points in the first half as the Orange went on a stunning 28-4 run to open a 20-point lead.

Georgetown was within 55-50 with 7:26 left, but Greene stopped the rally with a 3 from the left corner and 2 free throws by Rick Jackson had the Orange back in front by 10.

Kansas 69, Colorado 45: Mario Chalmers had 13 points and No. 3 Kansas (24-2, 9-2 Big 12) held Colorado's Richard Roby to just 2, in the Jayhawks' 25th straight at home over the Buffaloes (10-14, 2-8).

Tennessee 74, Georgia 71: Chris Lofton scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half, and Wayne Chism had 16 points for No. 4 Tennessee (23-2, 10-1 SEC) in a win at Georgia (12-11, 3-7).

North Carolina 92, Va. Tech 53: Tyler Hansbrough had 23 points and 9 rebounds, and Wayne Ellington had 19 points for fifth-ranked North Carolina (24-2, 9-2 ACC) in an easy victory over visiting Virginia Tech (14-11, 5-6).

Stanford 67, Arizona 66: Brook Lopez had 23 points and 10 rebounds and his twin brother Robin added 14 points to lead seventh-ranked Stanford (21-4, 10-3 Pac-10) past visiting Arizona (16-9, 6-6). After Stanford's Brook Lopez hit 2 free throws with 18 seconds to go, Arizona's Chase Budinger missed a running 5-footer in the final seconds.

Butler 51, Cleveland St. 46: Matt Howard scored 17 points and No. 9 Butler (24-2, 13-2 Horizon League) avenged one of its two losses this season by beating visiting Cleveland St. (17-11, 10-6).

Women

DePaul 81, West Virginia 80: Deirdre Naughton had 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead visiting DePaul (17-7, 6-5 Big East) over 11th-ranked West Virginia (20-4, 9-2).

The Blue Demons hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, including 3 in the final five minutes to rally for the win.

Stanford 79, Arizona State 57: Candice Wiggins gave her fans something to remember in her final regular season game at Maples Pavilion, scoring 23 points to move into second-place on the Pac-10 career scoring list and leading No. 6 Stanford (24-3, 13-2) over visiting Arizona State (16-9, 10-4).

California 66, Arizona 45: Ashley Walker scored 24 points and ninth-ranked California (23-3, 14-1 Pac-10) won its 16th straight home game with a victory over Arizona (9-16, 3-11).